Gamer's Haven, Gamer's Nightmare
by Firan
Summary: Having received a brilliant game from her uncle, Ariel Windsor and her friends discover the wonders of a virtual reality game ,with nothing virtual about it. Of course, witho one vital piece of information missing needed to play the game, Ariel, Harry, Ro
1. Chapter 1

Games spring from everywhere. Whether they are played on broomsticks, on the ground or in the water, man and wizard kind has managed to make a sport of everything.

Though each game has a pleasure factor in common, they all vary : sport games, board games, mind games, children's games and adult games, video games, dangerous games and harmless games.

There are differences in games, between the two worlds of Muggles and Wizards.

Wizards pride themselves on Quidditch, a sport very much like the Muggle football – twisted almost beyond recognition – but similar nonetheless. Magic explodes and dances its glory in the game of flying brooms and enchanted balls. The only sport where players can end up playing for days without end until the golden Snitch has been caught. A game where everyone must be alert, and try to not get knocked off their broomsticks by a pair of enchanted balls known as Bludgers. A game where the Quaffle must be thrown inside one of three hoops. A game that is so ridiculously popular, that barely any other sport or game is known to the Wizarding world.

Muggles, despite the inability to use magic, are more inventive with their games. Sports like Soccer, football, baseball and hockey have come into existence. Muggles are even imaginative to the point where even games like curling have become popular and are played in the Muggle Winter Olympics. How that became possible, is a miracle…but that's not even the point!

Because of the inability to cast magic, Muggles have even created a simulated kind of magic : the video game. Whether it is a Playstation or an Xbox, Muggles young and old are entranced by their television screens wanting to rescue Princess Peach once again from Bowser, win the gold cup in hockey, or simply solve the puzzle. Virtual reality exists, where the player can enter the world of the game and play.

Like magic.

Interestingly enough, the games of the two worlds have never been brought together. The idea wasn't even conceivable. Muggles, no even aware of the existanceof the wizarding world, and wizards, perfectly content with their magic,thank-you very much.

Naturally that situation wouldn't stay stable for very long.

A Muggle-born wizard by the name of Maxwell Nickpen, had always enjoyed playing games like Legend of Zelda, Elder Scrolls of Morrowind, and the like.

Having spent years, all but locked away in his house, he has been busy trying to create his own game, where he could combine the video-games of Muggles with the magic of wizards. Leaving his house only for family occasions and purchasing more coffee, Maxwell worked diligently. He fixed all the bugs and kinks of the game. Well, almost… but enough to render his new game playable.

It would be a game where those like Fred and George Weasley can cause mischief to their hearts' content. A game where Hermione Granger can study history and lore in the span of two days, but only two hours would have actually passed. It is a game where those such as Harry Potter can find solitude and escape the pain and suffering no adolescent should ever be forced to bear. A game where foes become friends, and friends become foes.

In all modesty, it was a kick-ass game.

All Maxwell needed was a second opinion.

His thoughts turned to his friends. He wrinkled his brow. No, they wouldn't do. They would never be able to appreciate the game like an adolescent might.

His bright blue eyes widened. A smile formed at the corners of his mouth. Adolescents, huh?

The Hogwarts school year had just begun and he knew that his niece was attending her fourth year. Maxwell raised a hand and stroked his whiskery chin thoughtfully. Yes, she would do… She would do perfectly.

Maxwell quickly ran to his oversized desk and used his arm to brush away the cluttered mess. Using his other hand he quickly opened the drawer underneath and pulled out two pieces of parchment, a quill and ink. He set to work and wrote her a letter. He felt like a child at Christmas, almost too excited for his own good. His hand scurried across the paper, bubbling with energy.

_She'll love this game. I know she will. She likes excitement and adventure…..she'll have to love it! Merlin's beard, and once she shows her friends…!_

Maxwell's pen scurried even faster. It was all he could do to contain his triumph….and sudden urge to tap-dance.

Having finished the difficult to read letter (but that alright, his nice would be able to decipher it somehow), Maxwell took the other piece of parchment and jotted down a few notes, some about the basic rules….and some about the _minor _bugs that still have to worked on. It was always better to forewarn someone after all.

He reached to the far right of the table and grabbed a box that was lying there, dumped its contents, and then filled it with as much enchanted parchment as he could. At the very top, he added the letter and page of notes and then proceeded to jump on top of the box to try and make its contents fit.

Finally having closed the box, Maxwell ran a hand across his brow. He then brought his middle finger and thumb together in his mouth to create a loud whistle. A great horned owl hooted from across the house and gracefully flew its way to him.

Using his wand to make the box twenty times lighter than its original weight, Maxwell then tied a large rope around the box, so his owl could carry it to Hogwarts.

"Alright Jackson," Maxwell said affectionately to his owl. "Get this box to Ariel. Go to Hogwarts and deliver this to her for me."

With a blink of his golden eyes, Jackson hopped onto the box and grabbed the rope with his talons. He flapped his wings and then flew out of the window.

Jackson the owl, would now be delivering a game to Ariel Windsor – fourth year Gryffindor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – the surprise of her life.

It wasn't until two hours after Jackson had departed, that Maxwell remembered a very, very important detail he had forgotten to write down on the page of notes. He felt the cold hands of anxiety gripping his conscience, and hoped Jackson would return soon, so he could deliver the warning.


	2. Chapter 2

Ariel slowly opened her eyes with difficulty. Her mind felt numb as though she had spent the last month with no sleep, studying for an important Transfiguration test…or something along those lines. She slowly raised her hand to massage her eyes. It wasn't natural for a 14 year old girl's hand to feel like lit was made of lead, was it? She groaned. No, it probably wasn't… She struggled to open her eyes wider – with the help of toothpicks she might have been able to do achieve, at least a pathetic attempt – in order to be able to focus on what was in front of her.

Her body felt frozen, like a block of ice. A consciousness that felt as though it hadn't gotten any sleep for a month accompanied by a body that felt as though she had spent that month in a tub of ice. Perfect. Just perfect…

Strangely enough, it didn't hurt at all, though it certainly felt…odd.

"Bloody hell…" she muttered, as she rubbed her head. She flinched before taking her hands and slapping her face awake. She shouldn't be feeling tired like this. Hadn't she been wide awake only a few seconds ago?

That wasn't quite right. She didn't feel tired. Or at least, her consciousness didn't feel tired. Somehow her eyes had gotten a mind of their own. She would definitely have to look into that afterwards.

Groaning once more, she pushed herself off the grassy earth. It resulted in a struggle to keep her balance, as her legs wobbled. Interestingly enough, as the seconds passed, her awareness became sharper, the grogginess, she felt disappearing. Odd was the only word that came to mind to describe what had just happened. At least, the only word that she would say in front of her mother.

The sun shone brightly in the bright baby blue sky, and its reflection in the dew from the grass only seemed to make the area brighter. It was crisp outside, but not quite cold enough to need a jacket. To her left, Ariel saw a clutter of tall trees and just beyond that was a foreboding entrance to a dark forest. Slowly her eyes made their way clockwise to her right and all she could see was a large meadow and beyond that, a chain of jagged mountains.

Where on earth was she?

"Hey Ari!" cried her best friend, Rachel. Ariel's body swerved towards the sound of the voice.

The sight of Rachel had certainly erased all traces of grogginess. Ariel's eyes had widened enough to the point of making a house elf jealous. _Bloody hell…_ Ariel thought faintly.

"Hey, um, Rachel…?"

Rachel frowned. "What's with that look? Have I got somethin' on my face?"

"Well…." Ariel trailed off, looking out of the top right corners of her eyes, unsure of how to answer.

Rachel Weisenthal was, under normal circumstances, a girl who could make an entire room stop all activity and have all eyes and attention on her. She _was_ pretty, but it was more her wildness that attracted attention. Not that she minded. Rachel basked in attention.

Rachel's eyes were green with golden flecks in the irises, and her auburn hair was most usually kept in one long braid. Her smiles were always wide and always so full of mischief.

She wasn't built for sports which she found perfectly alright because her body was practically designed for sneaking around. She used that to her advantage. Oh yes, very much so.

Then again, this was how Rachel appeared in normal circumstances.

So how on earth was Ariel supposed to tell her best friend that she had a two foot long horn growing out of her forehead? And that was just putting things mildly.

"Well…? Well what?" Rachel snorted impatiently.

It seemed that whether in normal or …special… circumstances, Rachel was still as innocently oblivious as ever. In this case, it worried Ariel. How could her best friend _not_ notice that she had become a full-grown unicorn?

"How do I say this…? Rachel. I hate to be the one to tell you but…um…." Merlin's beard, did that girl _have _to be so oblivious?

"_Well? What is it already?_" Rachel all but yelled.

"You have a **horn**. A **very** big horn. On your forehead.," she said gravely.

Rachel made a face. "Oh please…stop kidding around. How in the name of Godric Gryffindor is it possible for me to have a –" Rachel glanced upwards. She blinked. Then looked back at Aryel. Then at the horn again. "Well. This is interesting." Her voice sounded forced, almost strangled though the comment itself was made rather smoothly.

Ariel could only nod slowly as she watched her friend slowly but surely begin to freak out. "And it doesn't quite stop there, you know." She paused and silently added, _my oblivious friend_, before continuing. You see Rachel…you're a unicorn."

Rachel's eyes swerved to her hooves, then to her sides. "Oh. Well. This is interesting." Her voice had all but mounted to the edge of hysteria. A calm answer and her face looked serene might have seemed as though turning into a unicorn wasn't a big deal. Of course, Rachel had never really mastered controlling her voice, and judging by the sounds of it, Ariel just wanted to find a niiiice rock to hide behind until her friend would calm down.

"Uh-huh," Ariel answered nervously, looking around. _Dammit aren't there _any _rocks or logs in this place to take cover! _ She could always make a run for it, into the forest, and then again that just might worsen the situation.

"Hey wait a sec," Rachel asked suddenly. "Why am _I _the one who's a friggin' horse and you look like you?" There was a strange gleam in her eye that made Ariel cower.

Deciding that at least one of the two had to keep their cool, Ariel thought it may as well be her. Bracing herself for whatever would come; she grinned sheepishly and raised her hands in an 'I dunno' gesture. "I suppose we should read my uncle's instructions before playing, huh?"

"No….you don't say?" Rachel said sarcastically. Her eye twitched.

A minute passed.

"So, how DO we get out of here anyway?" Rachel asked, with clenched teeth. She trotted impatiently back and forth, wanting nothing more than to be human once again.

"That's a good question."

Rachel snapped. "You mean you don't know? _How _can you not know? We're just going to be stuck in your crazy uncle's game world forever? What will happen to me? I don't want to be a horse! I've got too much to live for! No, no, no! Let me out! Let me _OUT_!" She whinnied and neighed, snorted and trounced on what used to be tidy and neatly cut grass.

"Don't you think you're overreacting? You know, maybe just a little?" Ariel said in a low voice, holding up her first finger and thumb, almost pinching them together. Admittedly, Rachel's explosion wasn't as scary as she thought it'd be.

"_You're _not the one who's a _horse_!" If only she had hands, the wonders she'd do to Ariel's neck…

Ariel bit her cheek in a desperate attempt to keep a straight face.

While Rachel was going ballistic on Ariel, neither of the girls had noticed the change of scenery. The bright outdoors had almost melted into the dull, stony interiors of Hogwarts. The bright green grass turned into the red carpeting of the Gryffindor Common Room. The sky had been covered by a ceiling, and of course, the empty space that had once known only two loud girls, now contained a roomful of students, all curious as to what was going on.

"What do you mean it's _my _fault? _You _could have read the letter too, you know!"

"You're just saying that because you're not the one who became a friggin' cow!"

"Rachel, it's a unicorn."

"_Whatever!_" she said in a backlash of utter irritation and exasperation.

Hermione Granger had been trying to finish the last bit of the Potions assignment, but even her concentration was shattered when Ariel and Rachel began their insane outburst. "What on _earth_ are you two talking about?" She stood glowering at the both of them. No one got between her and her work, even if they were friends. She crossed her arms and gave silencing glares to the Gryffindor students who were chuckling.

"Hermione?" both girls gasped in surprise at the same time.

"How did you get here?" Ariel asked. Hermione looked at her with a quizzical raise of the eyebrow.

The comment caused the rest of the Gryffindors to chuckle and then they went about their business.

Realizing for the first time that they had somehow managed to return to the Common Room, Ariel and Rachel looked at each other and grinned. Rachel's hand strayed to her forehead, where she found no traces of a horn. Her grin grew even wider and she jumped in excitement, punching the air with her fist.

"I'm not a cow!" Rachel said with joy, in a sing-song voice. "Oh thank Merlin's beard, I'm not a cow!"

"Unicorn," Ariel corrected her.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, same thing."

"Actually," Hermione began, "they're nowhere near being the same thing. Setting aside their physical –" Ariel's hand had its way to Hermione's mouth in an attempt to skip the unnecessary lecture. Hermione gripped Ariel's arm and flung it away, glaring at her. Remembering that she had something more important to ask, her glare of death vanished, replaced by curiosity.

"What on earth were you two doing? You've just been staring at pieces of blank parchment for a few minutes, and then you start talking nonsense about unicorns and cows."

Ariel was confused. "Wait. You mean we were still here? This whole time?"

Hermione nodded slowly, as if talking to children._ Yes you crazy goofs, you've been here the whole time_… "Yes you were…You received a package from someone, ripped open the package – you can still see the bits of paper _littering_ the floor – spoke to each other a bit, then became perfectly still for a few minutes, and then you start spewing nonsense about cows and unicorns."

Hermione began tapping her foot, waiting for an answer.

"Um…oh! It's Transfiguration class! Can't be late for that! Gotta run Hermione!" Rachel said, grabbing Ariel's arm as she ran to the portrait of the lady. No sense in explaining something they didn't understand yet.

"We'll tell you later abou –" Ariel answered as fast as she could before the portrait swing shut. Too late.

Ariel shook off Rachel and drew her arm close to her. "Is there a reason why you wanted to tear my arm out of its socket?" she grumped.

Rachel smiled apologetically. "Sorry about that…but it's true. We're gonna be late for Transfiguration and McGonagall will take pleasure in bathing in my blood if I'm late again."

Ariel nodded in understanding. It wasn't until she looked at her enchanted watch – annoying little bugger it was, if only she could wear her digital – that she saw that Rachel was bringing her to class twenty minutes in advance.


End file.
